Staff Assembly Meeting Minutes
November 4, 2003

Members:  Ruben Ayala, Karen Baker, McLeod Baker, Lois Biege, Gay Boydston, Jonathan Brown, Emily Burgwyn, John Butler, Jackie Callanan, Alice Carter, Nancy Carter, Terri Chanlatte, Randy Cobb, Carlene Coover, Brad Davis, Dan Dehart, Kay Edmondson, Craig Elders, Marilyn Eudaly, Roger Fisher, Rocio Garcia, Rebecca Glass, David Grebel, Nancy Grieser, Josh Harmon, Sharon Hudson, Pam Hughes, Mary Kaszynski, Mary Lane, Joe Laster, Tommy Love, Valeria McDougle, Gabriel Perez, Tara Pope, Barbara Savak, Donna Shepherd, Tracy Syler-Doctson, DeVonna Tinney, Hao Tran, Robert Vann, Juan Varela, Esco Weatherspoon, John Weis, Paula Work, David Yale, and Richard Yantis.

Guests:  Lori Filler (Brite), Dr. Nadia Lahutsky (Faculty Senate), and Susan Oakley (Human Resources).

Absent:  Chris Arreguin, Ross Bailey, Rafael Chavez, Ervey Garcia, Julie Graver, Mesina Gray, Dorothy Holland, John Householder, Maria Leyva, Debbie Mar, Amy McDurham, Kevin O’Connell, Melinda Rubenkoenig, Emily Sullivan, Darron Turner, and Shawn Wagner.

Welcome:  The meeting was called to order at 3:33 p.m. by Chair David Grebel.

Minutes:  The October minutes were approved as submitted.

Presentation:  Nadia Lahutsky, chair of the Faculty Senate, gave a brief presentation about the revised core curriculum, which will likely be implemented in fall 2005.  The goal of the new core is to help students achieve the skills mentioned in our mission statement:  global awareness, leaderships, and ethics.  Five of the six tracks have been approved:  historical traditions, religious traditions, cultural awareness, citizenship and social values, and global awareness.  The literary traditions module is being refined and has not yet been approved.  For more information, see www.cic.tcu.edu.

Announcements:  A joint meeting will be held with the Faculty Senate and the Student Government Association on November 18.  Time and place will be announced later.  All Staff Assembly members are encouraged to attend.

Susan Oakley presented some ideas for a new suggestion program which will be administered by Human Resources.  It will be a year-round program and is expected to start December 1.  Employees may make suggestions through e-mail, voice mail, or the TCU portal, and the suggestions may be made anonymously.  The program administrator forwards the suggestions to the appropriate unit head who must respond within a certain time frame.  Rewards of a MasterCard gift card will be given for suggestions that are implemented.  A committee will review the list of implemented suggestions and select one idea quarterly as the winner of a larger reward.  There was some discussion about whether to accept suggestions that are related to the employee’s job or if those should be directed to the supervisor.  Oakley wants to hear feedback from staff because she wants the program to be successful, so contact her directly if you have any suggestions.

Committee Reports:

Executive Committee:  Chair David Grebel reported the following:

• The Staff Assembly budget was distributed, and will be updated and distributed monthly.
• Terri Chanlatte and Rafael Chavez have joined the Staff Assembly to fill positions recently opened by resignations.
• Chair-elect John Butler will take disability leave from TCU on November 15.  Grebel and other members expressed their sorrow at Butler’s departure.  Grebel then recommended that the Staff Assembly accept nominations for his position in the same method as is used each May:  nominations should be sent to Nancy Grieser, chair of the committee on committees.  The committee will verify the eligibility of the nominee.  Nominees must be current members of the Staff Assembly, and they can be in either the first or second year of their term.  Elections will be held at the December meeting, so nominations need to be made soon.
• The by-laws amendments that were approved by staff last year were forwarded to Chancellor Boschini for ratification.  He supported the intent but preferred we change the wording on the by-law about release time for committee meetings.  This has been forwarded to the by-laws committee and will be reviewed at the December meeting.

Community Service Committee:  Chair Hao Tran reported that the committee is exploring ways for employees to help the dependent children of employees prepare for college.  Suggestions include helping high school children with academic counseling and tutoring and aiding with the admissions process.  Send ideas to Tran as she hopes to present a plan by the December meeting.

Professional Development Committee:  Chair Mary Kaszynski reported the following:

• A program about interpersonal communication skills will be held on Tuesday, December 2, 11:30-1:00 in the Student Center ballroom.  Box lunches will be available.  More details will be forthcoming.
• The committee recommends an orientation program for new members of the Staff Assembly.  This program would describe the representative’s responsibilities, explain how to make motions and participate in meetings, and teach computer skills if necessary.  Orientation is currently being handled informally by Tara Pope, but the committee hopes to have a formal program next summer for the new elected members of the Assembly.

Report from the Retirement, Insurance and Benefits Committee:  John Weis reported that the Retirement, Insurance and Benefits (RIB) Committee met on October 23 to discuss insurance for next year.  The RIB Committee recommended and the Chancellor’s Cabinet has approved increases in contributions for the TCU Self Insured Medical Plans for next year.  The health benefits will remain the same as last year with a cost increase of 24% for the EPO plan and 15.5% for PPO plans.  (Other options were to reduce coverages in order to reduce the cost of health insurance.)  The administrative fees are slightly less for next year, but the claims costs are higher than in the past:  26% higher than at this time last year.  There is a small increase for dental insurance, and there are no changes next year for the life insurance and long-term disability insurance.  Weis explained that TCU is attempting to keep long-term costs down through the Wellness Program and a disease management program.  Employees will be receiving information packets soon and will have until November 21 to make changes to their plan.

Discussion followed about the cost.  Tara Pope suggested having health care costs calculated as a percent of income rather than a fixed cost because the cost is such a large percentage of the salary of a low-paid employee.  Weis said that such a plan has been discussed by the RIB Committee but has not been recommended and that many other organizations do not have such plans.  Roger Fisher, a member of the RIB Committee, acknowledged that our costs are high, as would be expected by an institution of higher education in Texas.  Hao Tran asked about making employees aware of other insurance opportunities, such as CHIP or private insurance programs.  Weis stated that we cannot appear to support or sponsor other insurance plans and that individual plans are usually more expensive than group insurance programs.  Carlene Coover asked if we have an option of paying lower costs for only catastrophic coverage.  Weis responded that we have investigated low-benefit programs and have a second PPO Plan with lower benefits.  Even with lower benefits, it is difficult to offer a plan that is affordable to everyone.

Adjournment:  The meeting adjourned at 4:42 p.m.

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